The Clockwork's Umbrella
by ChocolateOranges
Summary: “Why don’t you shove that ego of yours in your pocket and quit toying with me. If you’re going to kill me, do it now.”
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Scribbles: This is something I wanted to try for weeks. Both the plot and the pairing. Hopefully, it doesn't crash and burn. Yes, the characters will be out of character. Yes, this is will be in an alternate universe.

~*~*~

**December 14**

The white-haired teen's phone vibrates on his table. He feels around this table until he finds his phone. He looks at the caller ID: _Private Caller_. He sighs and answers the phone.

"What do you want?" He demands the person on the other end of the line.

"I have a job for you." The person pauses.

"And?" He asks, irritated.

"I want the young Kuchiki dead on her birthday." The woman on the other end of the line replies.

"Kuchiki?"

"Yes, Kuchiki. Kuchiki Rukia. I heard she's in your class. I'm sure this will be an easy task for you."

"When's her birthday?"

"A month from tomorrow."

"You call me at two in the fucking morning for that? You could've called during the day or the day before her birthday." He is now beyond irritated.

"I want you prepared." The woman says.

"Prepared?" He's infuriated.

"Yes, prepared. I will call again later to give you more details." The woman hangs up.

He closes his eyes, debating with himself whether he should track the woman down and slash her throat for depriving him more of his precious sleep or take the job he was given. He buries his face in his pillow and thinks about it. He decides he would do both.

**~*~*~**

Her cell phone rings loudly under her pillow telling her it's 7:00 am. It's time to wake up and get ready for school. Purple eyes meet with the white ceiling then moves towards the clock, just to make sure it really is 7 am. The owner of said purple eyes wishes time would move back one more hour. Or five more minutes just to give her more time to sleep. She stares at the clock for five more seconds then decides to get up.

The young Kuchiki yawned and heads for the bathroom. After she finishes with her morning rituals, she goes downstairs to eat breakfast. She sits on a chair and props her elbows on the table and waits for a servant to give her a plate of whatever the chef decides to cook that morning.

"It is unladylike to place your elbows on the table, Rukia."

Rukia looks up and sees her adoptive brother. She mumbles a quick sorry and places her hands on her lap. Yes, Kuchiki Rukia is adopted. Her life story is longer than most biographies sitting on the bookshelf in your local bookstore. Let me give you a brief summary: Rukia's life story begins with Hisana, her older sister. Hisana was married to Byakuya. _Was._ Hisana passed away twelve years ago due to cancer. Byakuya adopted Rukia as his wife's final wish before she died.

And now, the seventeen year old Kuchiki Rukia is having breakfast with her nii-sama, Kuchiki Byakuya. Byakuya is the heir to the Kuchiki clan and the head of a billion dollar company. The Kuchikis are wealthy. This means that Rukia and Byakuya lived in a big mansion and their grand children's grand children's futures are bright. It also means that Rukia's dreams of becoming a veterinarian have been blown away by the business world.

Rukia finishes her breakfast, bids her nii-sama goodbye, put her winter coat on, grabs her bag and headed out. A servant approaches Rukia and asks, "Kuchiki-sama, would you like me to drive you to school today?"

Rukia checks the time. 8: 30. She gulped. "Uhm, yes, please."

The driver smiles. "I will make sure you arrive before the bell rings, Kuchiki-sama."

Rukia reflects the smile. "Thank you. Please call me Rukia. Calling me 'Kuchiki-sama' is a bit awkward."

"As you wish, Rukia-sama." The driver leads Rukia to the car and opens the door.

"Rukia." She corrects.

The young Kuchiki arrives at school a few minutes later. She thanks the driver once again, relieved that she beat the bell by ten minutes. If she walked, she would surely be late. She sighs and heads to class.

"Ah, Rukia-san!" A girl with long hair greets her followed by another with short black hair.

"Good morning, Orihime-san, Tatsuki-san." Rukia replies. She also greets her other friends with wild coloured hairs they claim to be natural. The group engage in mindless chatter until the bell rings, telling the students they have a few minutes before their teacher arrives. Two minutes later, the door opens to reveal a white-haired teen. He walks down an aisle to sit in his desk. Eyes, from everywhere in the class, watch him walk.

Rukia's orange-haired friend smirks. "He likes all that attention, doesn't he?"

"Oh yeah. He purposely shows up just after the bell to get everyone's attention." The red-head replies.

"Ichigo, Renji." Tatsuki starts, "It's not nice to judge people just because they show up late, you know."

Ichigo, the teen with the bright orange hair, retorts, "Since when were you polite?"

"Since you became extremely rude." Tatsuki snaps.

"He's really mysterious, isn't he?" Orihime interrupts. "He always has that frown on his face... It makes him seem like a hard person to read."

"Ichigo has a permanent frown on his face but you can read him like an open book." Renji, the red coloured, pineapple-shaped haired friend says. This earns him a punch on the face. The two teens fight violently in the corner of their classroom, ignoring the rest of the conversation.

"Stay away from him Hime. You know those rumours flying around about him." Tatsuki warns her friend, knowing that a curious Orihime can get into all sorts of danger.

"What rumours?" Rukia asks.

"Some students say that he's an assassin." Tatsuki whispers.

"He kills people?" Orihime questions; this information piques her interest more.

"Yeah. He kills rich and influential people." Tatsuki looks at Rukia for two seconds then says, "You stay away from him too, Rukia."

Rukia rolls her eyes. "It's just a rumour. Besides, there's no way that can be true. Most rich and influential people are surrounded by body guards. The only way he can kill them is if he has ninja skills."

"Wouldn't it be cool if he was a ninja?" Orihime says excitedly. "He can help me beat the giant monkey in the ninth dimension!" Other people in their class also discuss the rumour. This makes the white-haired teen more popular, in a sense.

Kuchiki Rukia, sadly, lives in a country where high-ranking people were the target of most murders and kidnapping that it becomes _normal_. People related to high-ranking persons are also targeted just because they are connected to these people. There are other various reasons and motives to these killings. Some are to get a huge amount of ransom money and others are to eliminate the competition. The standard of living for most people was decreasing. Poverty is becoming a bigger issue than global warming.

"Orihime-san, your imagination never fails to amuse me." Rukia utters. The girl beams at her friend. Their teacher comes in the door a few moments later. The students hurry to their seats and finally the class begins.


	2. Start From Zero

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Scribbles: Chapter one was edited but nothing too big. There were minor errors and corrections that had to be fixed. This chapter is still somewhat unedited so this may be laced with mistakes.

Once again, please ignore the OOC-ness.

**Thank you to those who reviewed in the previous chapter. **

~*~*~

**December 14**

The first period passes by slowly. The second period is even slower. The class' morning is filled with reviews, quizzes, new lessons and homework. There are a few days left before Christmas vacation. The teachers are making sure that they, too, would get a vacation. They want to spend their vacation free of composing test questions and marking tests. Finally, after a few hours, it's lunch time. The group of friends pushes some desks together and sits around them.

"Hey, Rukia. What do you have for lunch?" Renji asks.

"Ham and cheese sandwich." She replies. Rukia glances at Orihime's lunch box. "Orihime-san, what is … that?"

"Oh, this?" Orihime grins. "This is sweet-and-sour pork mixed with mustard, honey, mayonnaise, ketchup and red bean paste! Would you like some?"

Rukia observes the peach-coloured concoction. "No, thank you. I'm sure it tastes… great though."

"Are you sure?" Rukia nods. "Okay." Orihime takes a bite of her food then thinks aloud, "Needs more mustard."

A girl with brown medium length hair approaches the spiky, white-haired teen. "Uhm… Hitsugaya-kun… would you like to eat lunch with me?" The girl's invitation turns a few heads. Who is stupid enough to approach Hitsugaya Toshirou then invite him to socialize? Everyone in the class waits for his answer anxiously. He looks at the girl with green eyes then stands up. Rukia looks at the boy a few desks in front of her. He looks up and purple eyes meet with green ones.

Toshirou gazes at the girl waiting for his answer and grabs his bag. "I'm busy." He then walks out of the classroom, leaving the tear eyed girl.

"Poor Hinamori-san…" Orihime pities the girl.

"Tsk. Bastard." Renji says.

"What an ass." Tatsuki comments. She looked at Hinamori, still standing on the place she was rejected, tears falling from her eyes. Orihime stands and approaches the girl. She hands Hinamori a handkerchief and smiles softly.

"You can eat with us if you'd like." Orihime offers. The girl takes the handkerchief and wipes her eyes. She looks at Orihime and nods. Orihime returns to her seat with Hinamori. She looks around the table and asks, "Where's Rukia-san?" Five pairs of eyes dart around the classroom. The young Kuchiki was nowhere to be found.

Small feet are stomping after the ones in front of her. That white-haired jerk irritates her. Hitsugaya Toshirou infuriates her. How dare he treat other people with disrespect? Rukia wants to beat Toshirou with a stick. Toshirou turns into a corner and disappears into the stairwell. Rukia follows, purples eyes looking for the white-haired menace. He's gone. She glares at the stairs, turns her heels and angrily returns to the classroom. She sits on her seat and mutters curses and death threats.

Ichigo stares at the Kuchiki noble. "Where were you?"

She glares at him. "None of your business." She grabs her sandwich and eats it angrily.

Lunch ends quickly and soon, the class is enduring period three. Finally, period four comes and ends as well. It's time to go home. Rukia puts her boots and jacket on then walks out with her friends. She looks up at the sky. It's snowing.

"It's snowing!" Orihime announces. She sticks her tongue out and waits for snow to land softly on her tongue. She giggles when the snow melts on her tongue. "It's cold."

Rukia holds out her palm and waits for snow to touch her. It falls delicately on her hand then melts. Rukia loves the snow. It's white, pure and makes her feel at peace. But, of course, peace doesn't last long with a Kuchiki. The group walks into an alley, the shortcut they always take going home. The friends talk about various things like clothes, games, TV shows and food. Rukia stops, letting the group walk ahead until they turn to another alley then turns around.

Rukia walks up to a pole and asks, "If I let you shoot me, would you leave them unscathed?"

A person comes out from behind the pole. He smiles and says, "Of course."

She glares at him and eyes the gun he holds in his hands. "Fine, just make it quick and painless." Rukia knows this day would come. She tried to be anti-social to avoid other people. If she made friends, her friends' lifespan would decrease dramatically. However, Orihime is too nice. Ichigo loves insulting her. Renji is too annoying and Tatsuki is too helpless to stop her three friends from socializing with Kuchiki Rukia. In the end, the five of them became friends. And now, a man dressed in black is pointing a gun to her temple to end her life. It's worth it, Rukia thinks. At least her friends would be safe. She stares at her killer's black eyes. She hears a gun shot and she feels herself falling. Her purple eyes close and soon, all she sees and feel is darkness.

~*~*~

Toshirou runs as fast as he could. The Kuchiki princess is an idiot, he thinks, an idiot and a half. Just as Rukia's killer is about to pull the trigger, Toshirou hits the man's arm upwards and the bullet flies towards the sky. He catches Rukia in his arms, kicks the gun out of the man's hands then knees the man between his legs. Toshirou smirks then leaves the agonizing man.

"Fucking shrimp." The man curses.

~*~*~

Bright purple eyes open to a white blur. Rukia wonders if she's dead. It feels like she's floating on a cloud and all she can see is whiteness. Her eyes finally focus on her surroundings. She realizes that she's in a bedroom. Does heaven have bedrooms? She feels around the softness around her and noticed that she's lying on a very soft bed and the whiteness she first saw is someone's hair. Someone's hair? Rukia quickly sits up and looks around the room. Where is she? Is she in a waiting room on her way to heaven?

"So, finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?"

She turns to the voice's owner. She stares at him for a while, still groggy. This person is handsome. He has spiky white hair and sports a white polo shirt with faded jeans. Is he an angel? He sure looks like one.

The angel smirks. Not handsome, she thinks. _Gorgeous_. She blinks a couple of times, trying to imprint the angel's face in her memory. He looks familiar, like she's seen him before. She stares at him, trying to remember who the person staring back at her is.

Rukia narrows her eyes, recognizing who this person is. "What are you doing here?" Rukia says venomously. What's _he_ doing in _her_ heaven? Rukia panicks a bit. Is she in to hell instead of heaven?

"Is that how you talk to the person who saved you from the hands of death?" He pretends to be hurt.

Rukia's eyebrows furrows. "Saved me?"

"Where do you think you are? Heaven? Haven't you noticed your alive yet?"

"Alive?" She looks at him dumbfounded. And then everything hits her like lightning. "I'm alive?!"

He rolls his eyes. "You actually thought you were dead? Are you stupid?"

Rukia glares at him. "Would you like to tell me what I'm doing here?"

"I told you already. I saved you. Are you deaf too?"

Her expression softens. "Oh, thank you, Toshirou-san." She pauses for a bit. "But, why would you save me?"

Toshirou walks towards her and sits on the bed facing her. "I couldn't let someone else kill you."

"Couldn't let someone else kill me?" She repeats.

Toshirou's lips curve upwards. "That's right."

Rukia lets out a little laugh. "So, this means the rumours are true. You are a murderer."

"'Murderer' is a little harsh, don't you think?"

"Is 'killer' better?" She spits.

Toshirou raises an eyebrow. "Call me whatever you want. It doesn't matter."

Rukia's smile is spiteful. "It doesn't matter because you're going to kill me whatever I call you?"

Toshirou smiles. "Correct. Maybe you aren't so stupid after all." He leans in closer to Rukia and stares at her big purple eyes.

"What are you doing?" Rukia blinks, not familiar to someone staring at her so closely.

He moves backwards just a tiny bit, still staring into her eyes. Rukia stares back. She couldn't help but stare back. His eyes are the most mesmerizing shade of teal she's ever seen. She stares at him for a few more seconds then groans in irritation.

"Would you like to explain to me what you're doing?"

Toshirou simply smiles and stares some more. He leans closer and closer until his nose is a few millimeters away from hers. Rukia focuses on his teal-coloured eyes. His actions puzzle her. What is he planning to do? While Rukia focuses her attention on his eyes, Toshirou takes this opportunity to take out the knife he's been hiding in his pocket. He slowly reaches for it. He carefully takes it out and cautiously moves the pointy edge to Rukia, gradually closing the distance between her and his dagger.


	3. Nothing But Mysteries

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Scribbles: I changed the title, if you haven't noticed. I didn't really like the old title so I replaced it with this one.

I apologize in advance for any typos and errors I missed in my edit.

I also apologize that it's taken me months to update this. I was hit with writer's block, you see. I haven't recovered so this chapter is going to seem off, odd, weird, etc. I don't like this chapter very much. I apologize for the inconsistencies.

Please excuse the OOC-ness and quite possibly, random crack. Thank you. And yes, this is AU.

**Thank you so very much to those who reviewed in the previous chapter, put this story on their alert list, and to those who added this to their favourites. I appreciate it. **Also, sorry if I spammed your inbox with the thank you messages. I wasn't sure who I already sent one to or not.

**December 14**

_He carefully takes it out and cautiously moves the pointy edge to Rukia, gradually closing the distance between her and his dagger._

Toshirou stops his movements and stares at Rukia. He sneers at her. "Whenever I'm so close to them like this, they always do the same thing. First, they focus on nothing but me. I look directly into their eyes, as if looking into their soul. They do the same." He leans in and Rukia could feel his breath on her face. "My eyes distract them from everything else and I lean in just like this. I lean in close enough so that our lips are almost touching each other." He edges forward even more, his words becoming a prophecy. "And then, I do this." Suddenly, his lips were on hers and Rukia's hand moves quickly and tightly grasps Toshirou's wrist, stopping him from injuring her.

Toshirou pulls back a little to see Rukia narrow her eyes and Toshirou smiles. "Wow. I didn't expect you to stop me." Toshirou says; he withdraws his hand just a little. Rukia raises her eyebrow as if to say 'I demand an explanation.' He smirks, moves closer to her again and answers her question. "They would always just focus on me. Their world would revolve on me and they don't pay attention to anything else. And when I kiss them, 'their legs turn into jelly' or whatever clichéd phrase people use these days. It's quite amusing actually. I then use that opportunity to kill them. Such a shame it didn't work with you."

Rukia throws a glare towards him. "Why don't you shove that ego of yours in your pocket and quit toying with me. If you're going to kill me, do it now."

"Ara, is that the tone of voice you should be using to talk to your savior?" Toshirou smiles and lies down on the bed, spreading his arms out and turning his head to look at her. "It's not the right time yet."

"'Not the right time'? What, you have a specific time for me to die?"

"Yes, I do."

"Playing god now, are we?"

"Maybe a little bit." He smirks.

She sighs and stands up. "If you have no more business with me, I'd like to go home." She looks around for a moment before asking, "Do you happen to have my stuff with you?"

Toshirou was a little surprised at the question. Is that something she should be concerned about? "Uhm, no. I didn't bother with it."

Rukia let out a small sound of irritation. That is her favourite bag he 'didn't bother with'. And in her favourite bag is her favourite Chappy pencil case, school notes that aren't so important (but said notes are written in Chappy notebooks so maybe they are a teeny bit important), her cell phone (Oh, crap! I was supposed to call Orihime!), and other various Chappy-related things that are valuable to her. She narrows her eyes at him and wishes many horrible things to befall on the young man.

"Thank you for helping me. I'll see you tomorrow." She walks to the door, opens it and slams it shut. She regrets not breaking it to compensate for her loss.

**December 14**

**10:46 PM**

Rukia glances at her watch and feels dread and fear. It's past 10. She hasn't called home to inform anyone that she'd be home late. She's alone and she doesn't know where she is. Growing up in a wealthy household, Rukia doesn't need to be bothered with things like direction, street names, and landmarks. One of the household's many drivers did all the thinking for her. She sighs as she looks around. It looks like she's still in Karakura so that's good.

Rukia walks around for a bit, turning into street corners and crossing streets. She picks up dropped coins on the ground, hoping to use them for a payphone. After walking for about 15 minutes, she looks around her surroundings and finds herself in front of a subway station. She walks around the station until she finds a payphone located just outside the ticket booth. She bites her lip as walks over to the phone and lifts the receiver. She dials her phone number with bated breath.

"Good evening, this is the Kuchiki household. It's Koyama speaking. How may I help you?"

Rukia releases a sigh of relief. "Koyama-san! It's Rukia." Rukia's thankful that it isn't Sakurai who answered the phone. Sakurai would surely reprimand her and give her a speech about safety. It's not like Rukia disliked Sakurai. She loves the man. It's just that Sakurai's too much of a worry wart and when he nags, he nags. A lot.

"Ru-rukia-sama? Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? Is there any bleeding? Where are you? Why are you calling from a payphone? Do you know what time it is? Are you alone? It's very late! You shouldn't be out on the streets alone. Have you eaten? You must be starving!"

Rukia giggles a little. Koyama, one of the household's attendants, is a bit of a mother hen. He and Sakurai worry over her and her brother like over-protective mothers. They worry over the littlest things. (Koyama wouldn't lecture her about safety and the importance of knowing directions. He would hug her and mumble words of reassurance.) Her situation isn't exactly what one might call a 'little thing' but it's not like she was injured. She's safe. At least, for now.

"Rukia-sama, I would appreciate it if you do not giggle but answer my questions instead." Koyama pouts on the other end of the line. The young Kuchiki always laughs at the most inappropriate moments.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Rukia smiles. "I'm safe. I'm not hurt anywhere. I'm inside Aoyama station, outside the ticket booth where the payphones are. And I'm not very hungry."

There's a bit of whispering and shuffling on the other line before Koyama replies back. "I'm sending Domoto-san to pick you up right now. Please stay where you are. I know you're not very hungry but I told Sakurai-san to bring a sandwich just in case."

The feeling of dread and fear comes rushing back. "Koyama-san, you … you asked Sakurai-san to accompany Domoto-san to pick me up?"

"Yes, I did. I think that this time, you need to aware of the dangers you could've encountered. It's not safe, Rukia-sama. You should be fully aware of the things nobles like you are in danger of." Koyama stresses out the upcoming doom Sakurai is about to unleash on her. Before Koyama can repeat himself, the line cuts off. Rukia sighs and sits on a bench. She tells herself that she would buy a phone card and always keep it on her person at all times.

Rukia is aware of the dangers. She was just in the middle of one a few hours ago. She reflects over the previous events until she hears someone walking over to her. She looks up to meet Sakurai's stern gaze. She gets up and bows to apologize. Sakurai's eyes soften and he moves to give Rukia a hug.

"Rukia-sama, I'm so glad you're safe." He says softly. Rukia hugs him back. He releases her, takes her hand and walks her to where Domoto parked their car. "Now, I would like you to tell me what has kept you out so late, why you didn't call us," Sakurai opens the car door and Rukia gets in. Sakurai slides himself next to her. "And why your friend delivered your bag to the mansion without you."

Rukia looks at him. "What do you mean, 'delivered your bag without you'?"

"A friend of yours, Yamada, I think was her name, brought your bag this afternoon saying that you left it at her house when you left. I asked her where you were since you haven't returned and she said that she doesn't know your whereabouts when you left her house."

Rukia stares at Sakurai with big eyes. She doesn't know anyone named Yamada, she didn't go to her house, and she would never leave her bag at someone else's house. Rukia bites her bottom lip. Lying to Sakurai is easy. "I went to Yamada's house after school. Then, I went to Orihime's house after. I lost track of time. The next thing I know, it's already 10:30. I must've been a little confused since I left my bag at Yamada's place. I called her and she said that she brought my bag home. And then, Ori-"

"Please don't lie to me, Rukia-sama." Sakurai interrupts. How did he know she was lying? He never sees a lie, even if it slaps him in the face. He turns to Rukia with worried eyes. "Please, Rukia-sama. Tell the truth. We want to keep you safe."

"How did you know?" Rukia asks. Sakurai sighs. He doesn't know himself.


End file.
